FAIRGROUNDS FESTIVAL

We were invited to Fairgrounds festival by Olly and his girlfriend Gosia whom we met on our second day in Sydney and Will had known in his Falmouth days.

We rushed away on a Friday night, leaving the packed narrow streets of Sydney behind and drove out into the countryside. It felt good to be back in the van, on the road and adventuring! We took the direct inland route to Berry because of the time and lack of light, but vowed to take the coastal road on the way back. We rocked up to the house they had rented for the weekend and were in for a treat. It was located up Berry mountain and the decking at the back of the house looked out to the flat land below and the sea beyond. We were staying in the van for the weekend, and the house had 3 bedrooms, housing Olly and Gosia, James and Charlie, and George and Cat. It was a lovely group of English folk plus Gosia (the only Aussie). The three couples had known each other a while and we were definitely the new kids in town but made to feel very welcome. the Friday evening we hung out in the house, eating and drinking until 2am. Looking out into the night we could see millions of stars. 

The next morning, feeling a little worse for wear, we all eventually made our way to the decking to see the view in the daylight. It was stunning. The view was completely uninterrupted and stretched away to the sea. Will and James had risen round six for a dawny, but when they came back we had the most delicious breakfast cooked by team Cat. Halloumi and chorizo with bread and eggs. Perfect!

We had arranged to meet up with Alex and his girlfriend Sonia who were also heading to the festival with a few of their friends. Will worked with Alex back in London and he has been helping us get sorted in the city. When we arrived we realised through mutual friends everyone knew everyone and the two groups became one. Obviously the Sydney design bubble is just as small as the London one, if not smaller.

We saw a guy called Ben Abraham who clearly wasn't having a great day. He was a struggling artist from Melbourne who had booked a budget flight that morning to make it to the festival on time. The flight was delayed by three hours so he managed to book onto a Virgin flight for $300. Only to find that that flight was delayed, meaning he actually would have been here quicker on his original flight and saved rather a lot of money too. Then on the mad drive from the airport to the festival, he said a car had blown up in front of them! He had a lovely voice and played acoustic songs.

Later on we saw Meg Mac and learned her (one) dance move, Father John Misty who found fame in The Fleet Foxes and Ratatat who totally blew us away. It was dance music with a lot of guitar and no lyrics, it just seemed to work I guess, or maybe it was just the right time of the night.

The night ended back on the decking in our hillside retreat. As H

appy as Larry we cracked open more beers and played a couple of rounds of One Direction Twister (yes that's a thing) then we fell asleep.

The next morning we packed up the cars and van and headed off to The Farm Beach for a surf, after a tremendous fry up. The water was gorgeous and it was just what we needed to wake us up and cure those pesky hangovers. I surfed with Charlie in the white water and had a great time. After a quick chicken burger at the beach cafe, it was time to say goodbye to our new buddies and head back to Sydney. 

Everyones boards in the back of the van (yup all 8 of us brought a board) so that we could make it down the hill in one trip.

The coastal route did not disappoint, we drove a section of road known as Sea Cliff Bridge where a lot of car adverts are filmed. However the jewel in the crown of this roads automobile history has to be Vanwell attempting to reach the speed limit and grumbling louder than most sports cars could ever achieve

. The road is built on stilts rising out of the sea as the cliff is too steep to carve a road from. It's a bloody cool road.

What a weekend, thanks for the invite guys !